Cattle marker



July v25, 1944. w, F, SCHACH 2,354,617

CATTLE MARKER Filed Nov. 13, 1942 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M25, 1944. v .w, RSCHACHT 2,354,617

CATTLE MARKER Filed Nov. 13, 1942 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 25, 1944 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE I "2,354,617

CATTLE MARKER. t. William F. Seliacht, Huntington, Ind. Application November 13, 1942, Serial No. 465,498v

3 Claims. (Cl. 40-3) This invention is an improvement incattle markers adapted to be readily applied either as a horn chain marker or neck chain markerto cattle and live-stock so that farmers, herdsmen or breeders can readily distinguish or identify same, the present invention being an improvement upon the markers shown in my copending applications Serial No. 389,984, filed April '23, 1941; Serial No. 407,968, filed August 22,1941; Serial No. 409,734, filed September 5, 1911; Serial No. 417,195, filed October 30, 1941; Serial No. 450,471, filed July 10, 1942; and Serial No. 460,730, filed-October 2, 1942.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a marker comprising a plate of simple construction, made of suitable material such as brass or steel which may be plated as desired, said plate bearing appropriate identification indicia and having a shank at its upper edge, which shank may be preferably split and the members of the shank being bent back upon themselves to form a pair of spaced integral eyes, a. link at one end of a, chain being secured in one said eye while the other eye is left partly open, so that in applying the marker to the livestock it is only necessary to pass the chain around its neck or horns of the animal and to engage alink adjacent the free end of the chain in said open eye, thereafter applying sufiicient pressure to close the open eye, the plate thus locking the ends of the chain around the neck or horns of the live-stoc Another object of the invention is to provide means for resisting any tendency of the closed eyes to open so that the chain might become disengaged from the eyes when subjected to abnormal stresses, such as' when the chain becomes caught in fences or other objects due to the live stock grazing too close thereto.

' Another objectof the invention is to provide a marker of the above'type havinga hinged ring also engaged with said eye or eyes and normally disposed at the rear face of the marker plate, into which hinged ring :a halter strap or chain can be readily secured, thus enabling the marker to serve not only as an identifying means for the live-stock, but also to replace the customary relatively expensive leather halter ordinarily used on cattle. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a marker of the above type in which the halter strap receiving hinged ring, formed separately from the marker plate, is so shaped as to prevent the pair of spaced eyes from separating, which separation would permit the eyes to become partially opened due to pull or tension .on thechain. a

Astill further object-of the invention is to provide a cattle markerv of the above type in which the shank is provided with raised knobs at its base upon whiclr the outertips of the rolled eyes seat, while-the, halter strap receiving hinged ring/seats upon the inner faces of the outer tips of the rolled eyes, thus preventing the eyes from'opening due. to tension'orpull on the halter strap and hinged ring,the contact of the hinged ring. upon the tips of. the rolled eyes being above the point of engagement of the outer tips of the rolled eyes with the said knobs, and thus rendering it impossible to ever pull the hinged rings downwardly sufiiclently to cause opening of the eyes. 1

A still further object is to provide a combined marker plate and halter having a single rolled and integral eye into which both ends of-the chain are locked; also the halter strap receiving ring, the single eye being made sufiicien'tly wide to provide sulficient rigidity to prevent the=eye from opening under'normal pulls on thechain 'or on the said ring. r A. still furtherobject is to provide acombined marker plate and halter, in which the halter strip receiving ring, engaged in the eye or pair of eyes, may have a chain inserted therethrough having a hook on one end which may be engaged with any 'linkin thechain and'then' closed, so that the same may be'used to -properly identify very young live-stock, and as the stock grows the hook may be opened and applied in other links of the chain to allow for the growth or increase in size of the neck of the live-stock, said chain taking the place of the usual expensive'halt'er strap often chewed up by the live-stock, thereby rendering part of the strap useless and injuring thelive-stock itself; e

Other minor objects of' the inventionwvill be hereinafter setforth. 1 1 I will explain the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several practical'embodiments thereof toenable others familiarwith the artto adoptand use the same; and will summarize in the claims the novel features of construction and novel combinations of parts for which protection is desired.-

" In said drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective -'view showing one form of my novel combined chain marker and halter applied to the neckof acow; I I v Fig. 2'is a front plan View of one form of-thethe marker shown in Fig. 6 is a side view of the marker shown in v Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a front plan view of a further modified form of marker using a single eye instead of a pair of'spaced eyes.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 8-8, Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan ,view of a further modified marker in which the halter strap receiving ring is utilized to receive a neck or horn chain having a closeable hook at one end adapted to engage any of the links of the chain, so that the same may be used to identify very young live-stock while allowing for growth of the animal.

Fig. 10 is a rear view of the marker shown in Fig. 9 showing the same indicia applied to both sides of the marker plate.

Fig. 11 is a vertical section through a further modified marker.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, the marker is formed from sheet metal, such as brass, or plated steel, the same comprising a plate portion Ia having an integral shank portion lb extending from its upper edge and of substantial length, said shank lb being ofiset rearwardly of the plane of plate Ia, and having spaced tongues Ic extending from its outer edge, said tongues being adapted to be rolled forwardly as shown in Fig. 4 with the outer edges engaging the shank Ib adjacent its base. On the shank lb adjacent its base are knobs Id opposite each of the tongues Ic adapted to form shoulders against which the outer ends of the rolled tongues Ic abut, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to resist opening of the rolled eyes under undue stresses on the chain 2 which may be occasioned when the chain becomes caught in fences or the like while the live-stock is grazing too close thereto.

Plate Ia carries suitable indicia such as 59 or "77 (Figs. 2 and 5), or may have engraved, stamped or otherwise formed thereon. any other desired indicia to identify or classify the particular live-stock.

Engaged in the eyes I is a halter strap receiving ring 3 adapted to receive'the snap 4 of a halter strap as shown in Figs. and 6, whereby the marker may serve not only for the purpose of identification of the live-stock, but may also serve in place of the customary halter, thereby obviating the necessity of providing the usual expensive leather halter with which cattle are customarily equipped.

In practice the marker plate would-be marketed with one eye lc closed, as shown in Fig. 2, and with a link at one end of the chain 2 secured in said closed eye, the other eye lc being left open as shown: so that in applying the marker to the live-stock it is only necessary for the herdsman to pass the chain around the horns or neck of the live-stock and then secure a link adjacent the free end of chain 2 in said open eye lc, thereafter applying. suflicient pressure to close the open eye as shown in Fig. 5.

; readily tied in obviating the necessity r stock.

Plate Ia thus locks the ends of the chain around the horns or neck of the live-stock, the marker being thus secured in a semi-permanent manner to the live-stock. As the live-stock grows however one closed eye can be pried open and another link of chain 2 inserted therein and the eye again closed to vary the efiective length of the chain, thus allowing for growth of the live-stock. When applied to the live-stock the snap 4 of a halter strap (not shown) may be readily inserted through the hinged ring 3 by swinging up the plate Ia so that the live-stock may thereby be stalls or other desired places, thus of furnishing the customary and expensive leather halter for each As shown, the ring 3 is bent sharply downward beyond the sides of the shank lb so that the ring tends to prevent the eyes Ic from separating due to excessive pulls or strains on the chain 2, which stresses might cause the eyes to partially open and free the links of chain 2, or the ring 3, from the plate la, the pair of eyes Ic serving as a double lock to hold the ring hinged to the plate Ia.

Also, reference to Figs. 4 and 6, will show that the outer tips of the rolled eyes are disposed between the knobs Id of the shank lb and the ring 3,, and that the ring 3 engages the inner faces of the eyes Ic at points above the knobs Id, thus rendering it substantially impossible to pull the rings 3 out of the eyes due to downward pull on the snap 4, since the knobs Id against which the outer tips of the eyes Ic seat are disposed below the point of engagement of the rings 3 with the rolled shanks Ic. Thus the outer tips of the eyes Ic will be wedged between the ring 3 and knobs Id and will be held against opening of the eyes under pull or tension on the rings 3.

Moreover, since the shank lb is offset rearwardly of the plane of the plate la, the shank will bear against the forehead of the live-stock when the plate is used as a horn marker, and thus maintain the plate spaced from the forehead of the live-stock, permitting sufficient ventilation thereunder to prevent skin chafing or irritation.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the marker plate la. is provided with a single integral shank I-e which is of width substantially greater than that of the individual eyes Ic shown in Figs. 1-6, to give requisite rigidity thereto; and the knobs Id above described in connection with Figs. 1 and 6 are omitted. In this modification, both ends of the chain 2 are engaged in the single eye Ie ofthe marker plate, also the halter strap receiving ring 3 into which the shank 4 may be engaged as shown, said ring 3 being thus conveniently hinged to the marker plate la. The marker shown in Figs. '7 and 8 would be used in identically the same manner as that above described in connection with Figs. 2 to 6.

In the modification shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the marker plate la is likewise provided with the integral offset shank lb having spaced tongues I0 and knobs Id, functioning the same as above describedin connection with Figs. 2-6 inclusive, but said plate carries the indicia such as "15 on both its front and rear faces. In this modification the ends of the chain 2 are not engaged with the eyes lc, but one end of the chain would be passed through the ring 3 which is hingedly connected with the plate by means of the eyes la. The chain 2 carries a hook 20. at one end which is openable and may be engaged with any of the links adjacent the opposite end of chain 2, and thus the marker plate may be readily applied around the neck of very young live-stock, the chain with the openable link 2a taking the place of the usual strap now used on young live-stock, which strap is not only relatively expensive, same involving a buckle, but which strap is often chewed by young live-stock causing injury not only to the strap itself but often causing stomach injury to the live-stock. As the live-stock grows, the hook 2a may be pried open and engaged with a link nearer the opposite end of the chain 2 so as to allow for growth of the animal or increase in the size of its neck. Since the indicia are applied to both sides of the marker plate la the same will normally be visible when viewing the animal from any angle. In this modification the knobs Id elfectively prevent the eyes lc from opening, and moreover the ring 3 may still be utilized for the reception of the snap 4, as shown in the preceding figures, in order to tie the livestock in a stall or other desired place.

In the modification shown in Fig. 11 the plate la is provided with the shank lb and with spaced tongues lc which are rolled to form eyes abutting against the knobs Id in the manner previously described. A ring 3 also is engaged with the eyes 10. In this modification however the indicia are preferably applied to a non-corrosive plate 5 of fibre, composition or the like, the plate 5 being riveted as at 6 to the front face of plate la in order that the indicia will always remain readily visible since the fibre or other plate 5 is non-corrosive. In this modification the marker plate however would function in identically the same manner as in the preceding figures.

By the above construction a marker of inexpensive construction is provided which may be readily applied by a farmer or herdsman around the neck or horns of a cow or other animal. The provision of two closely adjacent eyes Ic receiving the ends of the chain 2 prevents the chain 2 from twisting, and provides a marker plate in which the proper identification number or indicia of live-stock will lie substantially flat upon the forehead of the cow when used as a horn marker, or will be held exposed to front View when the marker is used as a neck marker as shown in Fig. 1. The marker at the same time may also serve as a halter when the snap 4 of a halter strap is applied to the ring 3, and thus my marker serves a dual purpose. The markers may be manufactured relatively inexpensively as compared with the cost of leather halters, and chain markers employing padlocks now somewhat extensively used the cost of which are prohibitive for the average herdsman having a relatively large number of live-stock.

I do not limit my invention to the exact forms 5 shown in the drawings, for obviously changes may be made therein within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A combined cattle marker and halter, comprising an indicia bearing plate having an integral shank extending from its upper edge provided with a pair of spaced tongues bent to form a pair of integral eyes, a halter strap ring hingedly mounted in said eyes, means on the plate resisting opening of the eyes, said shank being offset from the plane of the indicia plate; said resisting means comprising means on the shank opposite said eyes abutting against the outer tips of said bent tongues; said ring normally overlying the back of said plate whereby a downward pull on the ring will clamp the outer tips of the bent tongues between the said means and ring to prevent opening of the eyes.

2. A combined cattle marker and halter, comprising an indicia bearing plate having an integral shank extending from its upper edge provided with a pair of spaced tongues bent to form a pair of integral eyes, a halter strap ring hingedly mounted in said eyes, means on the plate resisting opening of the eyes, said shank being offset from the plane of the indicia plate; said resisting means comprising means on the shank opposite said eyes abutting against the outer tips? of said bent tongues; said ring normally overlying the back of said plate whereby a downward pull on the ring will clamp the outer tips of the bent tongues between the said means and ring to prevent opening of the eyes; and said ring being bent sharply downwardly adjacent each side of the shank to prevent the eyes from spreading apart.

3. A combined cattle marker and halter, comprising an indicia bearing plate having an integral shank extending from its upper edge provided with a pair of spaced tongues bent to form a pair of integral eyes, a halter strap ring hingedly mounted in said eyes, means on the plate resisting opening of the eyes, said shank being offset from the plane of the indicia plate; said resisting means comprising means on the shank opposite said eyes abutting against the outer tips of said bent tongues; said ring normally overlying the back of said plate whereby a downward pull on the ring will clamp the outer tips of the bent tongues between the said means and ring to prevent opening of the eyes, and said ring being bent sharply downwardly adjacent each side of the shank to prevent the eyes from spreading apart; and a chain having links adjacent both ends locked in said eyes whereby said plate will lock the ends of the chain together around the neck or horns of a live-stock.

WILLIAM F. SCHACHT. 

